Copyright The Boston Globe
Needham-based Tripadvisor is laying off 20 percent of its employees and contractors following a merger of two internal operations, the company said in a call with investors Thursday. The company plans to merge two of its three core businesses: its original Tripadvisor travel review platform and its online booking website Viator. The third business, TheFork restaurant booking website, remains a separate unit. In a quarterly financial report posted Thursday, the company said it is focusing on becoming an “experiences-led and AI-enabled company.” The moves come as Tripadvisor has been facing pressure from activist investor Starboard Value to improve its financial performance. Tripadvisor did not immediately respond to a request for comment. According to the earnings call, Tripadvisor is embarking on a “cost savings program,” which aims for $85 million in annualized savings and layoffs, starting in the last quarter of this year and throughout 2026. The company had about 2,860 employees globally at the end of last year, with approximately 1,000 based in the US, which means it is letting go of about 600 employees, although Tripadvisor has not said how many are based in the country, or in the Boston area. Advertisement The quarterly financial report noted that the company’s Brand Tripadvisor saw an eight percent decrease in quarterly revenue from last year to $235 million, while Viator’s quarterly revenue grew by 9 percent to $294 million. The company’s shares dropped two percent as of mid-day Thursday, with a market cap of $1.8 Billion. “We experienced stronger than anticipated traffic headwinds that accelerated throughout the quarter, negatively affecting both free and paid channels,” said Tripadvisor’s chief financial officer Mike Noonan in the earnings call. “We believe that realigning our strategy, our resources, and our brand and data assets across Viator and Brand Tripadvisor into a new operating model provides an attractive opportunity to accelerate growth and innovation.” Yogev Toby can be reached at yogev.toby@globe.com.
